Harvard Medical CIO Loves Implanted RFID Chip

In a recent Forbes.com Executive Toy Box section, Harvard Medical CIO John Halamka, the man who in January had the VeriChip implanted to test the controversial device's medical merits, apparently loves the device.

March 3, 2005—Harvard Medical CIO John Halamka, the man who in January had the VeriChip implanted in his arm to evaluate the controversial device's medical merits, appears on Forbes.com claiming to love it. As an adventure sportsman, he is often in situations where a slight mishap could mean dire injury. The prospect of identifying information being literally on his person at all times affords him the comfort of knowing that a hospital could use the chip to access his medical information even if he arrived at the hospital unconscious and without ID.

Don't assume that Dr. Halamka's praises are a harbinger of widespread VeriChip acceptance. The device strikes terror in the hearts of privacy advocates, and even to the layman it seems, well, creepy. As someone who hopes for the invention of an implantable BlackBerry, Dr. Halamka's enthusiasm for technology is probably a just little stronger than average.